Duel for the Throne
A ritual knife fight between Paul Atreides and Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen settles the succession.
Paul stood before Shaddam IV's court and the gathered Great Houses and named his price: Princess Irulan's hand, and the throne itself, forfeit. Feyd-Rautha answered the claim himself. His uncle the Baron already lay dead on the floor of that same hall, so the Na-Baron claimed the right of kanly and stood as the Emperor's champion, vicious and eager for it. The duel followed Harkonnen custom to the letter. That meant Feyd-Rautha carried a poisoned needle hidden in his belt for an unseen strike. Paul's prescience caught the trick before it landed and sent it back on him instead. Feyd-Rautha died there, in front of the entire Landsraad, and House Harkonnen's line of open succession died with him. The Guild needed its spice. The Sisterhood feared what an unchecked Kwisatz Haderach might do unopposed. Between the two, the Great Houses found themselves with only one road left: Paul, and the Golden Lion Throne.
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